Humane Society wants $11,000 from ex-official

GOSHEN — Joanne Newman, the former president of the Humane Society of Middletown, was supposed to be sentenced on Thursday for falsifying paperwork for a donation to the shelter.

HEATHER YAKIN

GOSHEN — Joanne Newman, the former president of the Humane Society of Middletown, was supposed to be sentenced on Thursday for falsifying paperwork for a donation to the shelter.

Instead, the nonprofit Humane Society asked to recoup $11,000 in accounting expenses incurred after Newman's arrest last year. A donor accused Newman of pocketing thousands of dollars, part of a large donation made to the society. Newman refunded most of the donation.

Police found irregularities in the bank records, and Newman, 67, of the Town of Wallkill, was charged in September 2010 with grand larceny and falsifying business records, felonies. She pleaded guilty June 29 to a misdemeanor, falsifying records. She did not admit to theft, noted her lawyer, Craig Brown, and she denies stealing any money.

In exchange for the plea and $10,000 repaid to the donor, Newman was expected to get a probation sentence from Judge Nicholas De Rosa.

In court on Thursday, Robin Markovits, president of the Middletown Humane Society's board of directors, said the scandal hurt the society's reputation and forced it to spend $11,000 on a forensic accountant to audit their accounts and to reconstruct their 2010 financial records, money that should have been used to care for the animals.

De Rosa said the society and prosecutors must work out whether the $11,000 should be part of the restitution. If not, he'll sentence Newman on Nov. 3; if so, he'll allow her to withdraw her plea.

Brown said Newman dedicated years of her life to the Humane Society. He added, "she's heartbroken that these false accusations (of theft) could in any way damage the reputation of the Humane Society."